Cassidy calm on deadline
BRUINS NOTEBOOK
VANCOUVER — It is nine days and counting until the NHL trade deadline comes and goes on Feb.26, and this time of year has been known to strike dressing rooms with a certain amount of anxiety.
With the Bruins one of the top teams in the league, it’s a safe bet they are at least discussing a host of trade targets — whether it’s Ryan McDonagh or Rick Nash of the Rangers, or Patrick Maroon from Edmonton or maybe even Thomas Vanek from the Canucks.
But coach Bruce Cassidy is not overly concerned with the room getting upset.
“I don’t get too invested in the deadline,” he said. “I think the players are aware of it, but I think with the veteran guys in the room, they tend to talk to the younger guys about stuff that may or may not happen. I’m not sure how much.
“I certainly sit down with (general manager Don Sweeney) and talk about potential (deals) and how we can upgrade the team, but that’s not only the deadline, it’s periodically throughout the day . ... If he’s got something on the burner, I think we’ll discuss it and move forward.”
Cassidy didn’t want to address any potential needs.
“There’s always room for improvement but I don’t want to go through the lineup. I think it’s disrespectful of the group that’s gotten us to where we are, which is a good spot,” Cassidy said. “Clearly we’ve got some young guys that are un- proven in the playoffs. (Sean) Kuraly and (Charlie) McAvoy did play in the playoffs, so we have that advantage. Jake (DeBrusk) hasn’t, (Danton) Heinen hasn’t. They played in the American league (playoffs) last year. A different animal, but they had a good long grind in.
“The core group has been there. They’ve won a Cup. It’s always a concern with the younger guys, how they’ll perform. But again, I think there are pockets in our lineup where I think we can upgrade, but I don’t want to go through every position. If we add a player that’s better than what we have, we’ll get him in there and see how he fits and go from there.”
Young players are always attractive for the sellers, who are usually taking on some level of a rebuild. The Edmonton Journal’s Jim Matheson tweeted yesterday that he’d heard any deal for McDonagh would have to include DeBrusk.
Until he was informed of that, DeBrusk had been blissfully unaware.
“I’m not too sure if there are rumors or what’s going around. I’m just kind of staying within the room,” said DeBrusk, adding the deadline has not been brought up in the room. “We all want to be here, we want to be on this team, we all want to continue to build on what we’ve been building.
“Obviously the trade deadline is coming up . . . . It’s one of those times where it’s pretty stressful. You just have to take care of yourself and take care of your game and do anything you can to help the team win.”
Heinen at home
Heinen, a British Columbia native, will play at Rogers Arena for the first time tonight and is expecting a large contingent. He grew up a big Canucks fan and was one of the thousands of heartbroken folks in the stands for Game 7 of the Stanley Cup finals in 2011.
Like most B.C. natives, he pretty much hated the Bruins back then.
“Yeah a little bit. I won’t talk about that too much,” Heinen said with a laugh. “It’s definitely funny how it comes full circle. I was here for Game 7 of the Stanley Cup finals. I watched these guys raise the Cup and now I’m in the dressing room with a lot of them. It’s funny how it works out.”
Special night
DeBrusk’s father Louie, an analyst for Sportsnet, will be covering tonight’s matchup, the first time he’s worked one of his son’s games.
“First game he’s calling from in between the benches. It’s going to be pretty unique and pretty special,” said Jake . . . .
With the B’s on the road for 10 days, forward Jordan Szwarz was recalled from Providence as insurance . ...
Kevan Miller continued to skate with a red noncontact jersey and he’s been ruled out for tonight’s game, but not yet for Calgary and/or Edmonton next week . ...
Tuukka Rask will play against Vancouver and then he and Khudobin will split the back-to-backs in Calgary and Edmonton, though Cassidy hasn’t said which goalie will get what game.